Migraine headaches are caused by inflammation, and effort should be made to ascertain the cause, so that they can be prevented. The causes are almost always dietary, and the main aggravating factors are listed below.

Aggravating Inflammatory Factors

Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

Artificial sweeteners

Magnesium deficiencies *

Homogenized milk

Unhealthy cooking oils

Stress

* Be careful not to over-supplement with magnesium, because it can cause other minerals to be stripped from the body. Magnesium is best obtained from a diet containing green, leafy vegetables, cashews, and walnuts.

Migraines are most often related to gastrointestinal problems, and they occur frequently in those with irritable bowel syndrome and acid reflux disease. Most long-term gastrointestinal problems are caused by an overgrowth of candida yeast in the digestive tract. Detailed information about this can be found in the allergies article.

Feverfew can prevent migraines if taken daily, and 90 mg. is ideal for the average adult. Feverfew should be used with caution in those who have ragweed allergies, due to the risk of an allergic reaction. Test with a small dosage, and increase if no reactions occur.

Stopping a Headache

Ginger can be helpful for when nausea accompanies a migraine. If the sufferer is too nauseous to take ginger capsules, then place ginger powder in the mouth for direct blood absorption through the cheeks. This may be necessary before pain-relieving methods can be attempted.

Butterbur is a herb that is effective in the prevention of headaches, and for stopping them when they occur. The recommended dosage is 100 mg. for an average adult. Ideally, butterbur would be taken immediately when any soreness is felt in the head. Waiting for the headache to manifest will result in diminished effectiveness.

Reflexology and pressure point techniques can help to alleviate some of the pain from migraine headaches. This entails gently pinching and applying pressure to the tops of the first three toes of each foot in a massaging motion. The patient should notice unusually acute soreness in this part of the foot, and there may even be slight toe pain in the beginning. Begin with only slight pressure and eventually build to as much force as the patient can tolerate. Some temporary relief may also be obtained by applying pressure to the cheek bones, temples, or just above the eye sockets.

Blue lotus is a flowering lily. Its dried flowers may be smoked to relieve migraines and lesser headaches. The fact that it can be smoked is an advantage, because migraines cause nausea, which can make swallowing impossible.

Kava kava is a mild pain reliever and relaxant. Kava kava is an exceptional remedy when headaches are caused by stress and anxiety. Reference our article about painkillers for more information about kava kava and blue lotus.

Migraines can be a result of spinal misalignment. This is most likely when the headache is accompanied by soreness in the neck or in the back of the head. These headaches can be typically cured by a chiropractor within minutes.

Smoking cannabis ("marijuana") is the most effective method for alleviating both nausea and the pain. It is the fastest method of obtaining relief, and it really ought to be recommended by doctors. It is wise to obtain it before it is needed, due to the fact that it cannot be purchased in stores.

Some have reported success after smoking salvia divinorum during migraines, but research on the plant is very lacking. It is, however, much more readily available than cannabis.

Comments

I suffer from migraines on and off for more than 40 years. I have recently found out that I cannot eat any bell peppers, even a small piece less than 0.5 cm will trigger an attack within an hour. It does not matter if its cooked or raw.Another trigger is some strong smelling flowers like jasmyn, honey suckle and lilies

There is a very good chance that you were exposed to red peppers with pesticides or other chemicals, which resulted in an unnatural sensitivity. This happens in the same way that vaccines trigger allergic reactions.

The allergies of eggs, latex, nuts, and etc that are rampant in our modern society result from vaccinations. When the body is exposed to a poisonous substance alongside one that is beneficial or benign, it may mistakenly associate the non-harmful substance as toxic. A similar situation almost certainly occurred with your allergies.

I read your article and would like to share my experience about the power of using magnesium on migraines and other illnesses.

Magnesium is the MOST vulnerable mineral of all minerals because it involves in so many biochemical functions in our body and it doesn't take much to lose this precious mineral.

You can be stressed out, being angry, eating sugar, drinking tea/coffee or even listening to loud music can easily drain magnesium in no time.

Anyway, when I met my partner many years ago and I noticed she always have migraines, which was a result of drinking too much coffee, tea and using too much sodium in her food.

All that drained her magnesium and she would have eye twitching (eye spasms) because of the high level of calcium in her blood. That was proved by taking a sample of her hair and used the TMA (Tissue Mineral Analysis) by a respectable lab.

I suggested to her to take 300mg of magnesium citrate on an empty stomach in the morning, afternoon and before bed with a total of 900mg a day. She took it with vitamin c and b-complex at the same time, which enhanced bioavailability.

As soon as she started taking magnesium, her migraines stopped and her eye twitching stopped after two weeks of taking it.

I thought it was important for me to share what I have learned about the power of magnesium and what you have to say is absolutely right.

I would love to write articles for your site since I share the same views as yours. Please let me know if that is possible.

You don't need a particular product. Any source of magnesium, including green vegetables, is good. A cap full (or two) of all-natural maple syrup will do in a pinch. You really need some calcium to make magnesium work, and calcium needs vitamin D to work best. So technically, you need:

magnesium + calcium + vitamin D

As for your specific question, we are sorry about the confusion we caused by using the phrase "mag packs". It is a slang term that we internally use to refer to a specific product. We are normally very careful to avoid citing specific commercial products, but we apparently slipped-up, and we stepped into this one. It would be unfair to refuse to answer your question at this point, so we are going to violate our standard policy by citing the commercial product.

The product is: ' Ionic-Fizz Magnesium Plus

We know that it is sold at Whole Foods. It can be a huge help if your diet is less than ideal, but eating your vegetables is still the superior approach.

I've been fighting migraines for 9 years and have tried everything and use the magnesium and D anyways because I believe we are ALL deficient in both of these. I have noticed that when we have high pressure where I live, I NEVER get a migraine and that is about 3 days a year. I stayed in Los Angeles for 3 weeks with a relative and NEVER had a migraine. Got back to Georgia and they started back immediately. It took me 7 years to figure this out.

Statiscally, women in the Southeast far out number women in any other part of the Country on migraine headaches.

I wanted to share my story as a way to say thank you to those of you who work so hard to bring all of this information to people who want and need it. My husband has been a member with you for quite some time and he is always telling me about something he read on here. I have recently become such a believer that I had to get my own subscription to learn more things. I have fought chronic migraines for years but the past few years have been the worst. I would get them 2-3 times a week and sometimes they would last for days. I tried the change in diet, cutting down stress, taking pain medication (Tylenol migraine and Excedrin migraine, which I refuse to touch either ever again), etc trying to figure out what was causing them. All to no avail. In our family we are constantly looking for natural cures to things and I found a natural product called Badger Balm Headache Soother that I rub on my forehead at times if I have a minor headache and it does help reduce it. As much as I do like that, it does not help with a migraine very much. One afternoon, my husband forwarded me this post in an e-mail and said it is something I could try. I started buying cashews and eating a handful or two when I would feel a migraine coming on and it did dull it (in some cases knocked it out). I love cashews, but they can get a bit pricey so I started looking for something I could take on a daily bases to supplement the Magnesium. I take 500mg of Magnesium Citrate and 500mg of Calcium with Vitamin D once a day. Before I started taking these I started a migraine journal. As I said previously I would get 2-3 a week. I have been taking my supplements now for 46 days (about six and a half weeks). Before, That would have been between 12-18 migraines in that time frame. Since I started taking Magnesium, I have had ONE migraine in 46 days. This has been such a blessing that I cannot say Thank You enough for having this information available. I know that not everyone is the same and this is not a cure for everyone, but it is for me. So, from the bottom of my heart and the almost non existent migraines in my head, Thank you!

I have bilateral lung tumors that caused low respiration. I was coincidentally as the disease progressed starting to get early morning headaches often waking me around 3:00 a.m. The migraine expert doc didn't even want to listen to my suggestion it might be related to my lung issue and he immediately reached for the prescription pad. I did not fill the prescription but called my pulmonologist and insisted on a sleep study. He did not want to do the study and scoffed at the idea but we went ahead and did the study. The pulmonologist had to eat crow and said I had hypopnea and with a Cpap bleeding in oxygen - no more migraine.

My girlfriend has been getting migraines since she was a little girl. Recently she started taking feverfew, butterbur, Vitamin B2, Magnesium, and Coenzyme Q10 in a capsule form. She has had significantly less migraines and when she does get one, it is not as severe as before. Normally her migraines would last 3 days (around the time of her cycle). Now, when she does get one, it lasts only a day.

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